Commentary on Habakuk needed

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Peter
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Joined: Sat Oct 05, 2013 9:40 am

Commentary on Habakuk needed

Post by Peter »

Dear friends, which book on Habakuk with a focus und the Hebrew text is to be recommended? Thanks Peter
RSeale
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Joined: Sat Jan 30, 2016 10:40 pm

Re: Commentary on Habakuk needed

Post by RSeale »

Have you looked at Francis I. Andersen, Habakkuk: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary, The Anchor Bible (New York, NY: Doubleday, 2001)?
Randall Seale
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David Colo
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Re: Commentary on Habakuk needed

Post by David Colo »

Dead thread resurrection!

The original thread author may never come back to look at this, but I thought I would comment briefly for the benefit of others who are interested.

Of course, Hab 3 is a special study in its own right. But there are several commentaries that are good for all three chapters. I have found Andersen's commentary to be about the best you can get. I would also recommend:
- Robert D. Haak's Habakkuk (Supplements to Vetus Testamentum, Vol XLIV, New York: Brill, 1992).
- George G. V. Stonehouse's (public domain!) The Book of Habakkuk: Introduction, Translation, and Notes on the Hebrew Text (London: Rivingtons, 1911).

A few shout-outs:
- Julie C. Möller for her doctoral thesis (The Vision in Habakkuk), which provides a helpful synthesis and can be found online in PDF form.
- J. J. M. Roberts for his critical eye (Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah).

Sometimes you need to look at individual articles to get a deeper discussion and analysis of all the minutiae. These are a few that I have found helpful and/or thought-provoking in chs. 1-2:
- Bosshard, Martin. “Bemerkungen zum text von Habakuk 1:8.” Vetus Testamentum 19.4 (1969): 480-2.
- Cleaver-Bartholomew, David. “An Alternative Approach to Hab 1:2-2:20.” Scandinavian Journal of the Old Testament 17.2 (2003): 206-25.
- Haak, Robert D. “‘Poetry’ in Habakkuk 1:1-2:4?” Journal of the American Oriental Society 108.3 (1988): 437-44.
- Janzen, J. Gerald. “Habakkuk 2:2–4 in the Light of Recent Philological Advances,” Harvard Theological Review, 73 (1980), 53-78.
- Legaspi, Michael C. “Opposition to Idolatry in the Book of Habakkuk.” Vetus Testamentum 67.3 (2017): 458-69.
- Scott, James M. “A New Approach to Habakkuk 2:4-5a.” Vetus Testamentum 35.3 (1985): 330-40.
- Tsumura, David Toshio. “Hab. 2:2 in the Light of Akkadian Legal Practice.” Zeitschrift für die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 94.2 (1982) 294-5.
- Wal, Adri J. O. van der. “Lô’ nāmūt in Habakkuk 1:12: A Suggestion.” Vetus Testamentum 38.4 (1988): 480-3.
- Whitley, C. F. “A Note on Habakkuk 2:15.” The Jewish Quarterly Review 66.3 (1976): 143-7.
- Zemek, George J., Jr. “Interpretive Challenges Relating to Habakkuk 2:4b.” Grace Theological Journal 1.1 (1980): 43-69.

Of course, anything by William Brownlee on the Habakkuk commentary in the Dead Sea Scrolls is worth reading (Timothy Lim has recently published a book called The Earliest Commentary on the Prophecy of Habakkuk that nicely supplements Brownlee's studies).

I do not recommend Smith's contribution in the Word Bible Commentary series. Better would be O. P. Robertson's Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah in The New International Commentary on the Old Testament series.

Anyone else found a particular book, article, monograph, etc. thought-provoking and/or helpful for Habakkuk?
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